Braydon(96)

“Jess . . .”

“I’m kidding, Daddy. It’s good. I’m serious.”

“How’s Brendon?”

Oh, God. She did not want to answer that question. Her father believed that she was dating Brendon Walker. It didn’t have anything to do with Jessie telling him as much, either. It was an assumption so many people had made over the months. Of course, it didn’t help that no one bothered to set anyone straight about that.

“He’s fine,” she said evasively, wanting to change the subject. “How are you? How’s Melissa?”

“We’re staying busy.”

Jessie got the sense that her father wanted to tell her something, but he was stalling. Usually when she asked about her father’s girlfriend, he wasn’t quite so tight-lipped.

“Is something wrong?”

“Depends on what you consider wrong.”

“Daddy,” Jessie said, sitting up straight in the chair. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, actually. Melissa and I have finally made a big decision.”

Jessie held her breath, waiting for her father’s news.

“We’ve decided to move to Coyote Ridge.”

“Are you serious?” she exclaimed, shocked.

“You don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“Of course I do,” she said suddenly.

“We figure now that both of you girls have decided to call Coyote Ridge home, we have no reason to stay up here. We want to be closer to you both. And since I’m gone so often, it’ll bring Melissa closer to family.”

Her father was an airline pilot, so he was gone a lot. And yes, Jessie could totally see how Melissa would be tired of being alone. It would be nice to be able to see her father from time to time. And she wouldn’t have to plan her trips around his schedule. Not to mention, her little piece-of-shit car wasn’t going to make the trek to Dallas much more, if at all.

“When?”

“We’ve put in an offer on a house. I had Kylie pull some information and she went to check it out. Travis and Gage weighed in. If the offer is accepted, we’ll come down to check it out within the seven days we have to back out.”

“Wow, that’s . . . great.”

“Is it?” he asked, his tone concerned.

“It really is, Dad. I’m very happy to hear that. It’ll be great to see you both more often.”

Their conversation continued for several more minutes, but before long, her father ended the call, just as he always did. Jessie was hesitant to let him off the phone, fearful that she’d end up in another ball of tears and snot once she had no one to talk to, but she didn’t want to tell him that.

After she hung up the phone, she glanced around the room. That was the moment she realized she had just lost her only reason for leaving town. Which meant . . .

It meant that she was going to have to figure out what she really wanted.

And how to get Braydon back.





chapter TWENTY-FIVE

“Are you really feeling better?” Cheyenne asked him for what seemed like the hundredth time.

It felt as though Cheyenne had been grilling him endlessly, but that was only because Brendon was feeling the repercussions of the concussion mixed with a significant amount of guilt. On top of that, his normally sunny disposition had taken a one-way trip to the Bahamas and he didn’t see it coming back anytime in the near future.

“Yes,” he replied, trying desperately not to bite her head off in the process.

Before she could pelt him with more questions, the front door flew open and in stormed Braydon.

Oh, hell. He was pissed.

Brendon watched him, as did Cheyenne. They watched him stomp from the front door all the way to his bedroom. Brendon kept his eyes trained on Braydon’s bedroom door while his twin slammed around in his room doing God knows what. A second later, he was stomping back across the living room on his way to the front door.

And then he was gone. Vanished without a single word, but the scowl on his face had been enough.

“He okay?” Cheyenne asked, still staring at the front door.

The sound of Braydon’s truck starting up, followed by him revving the engine unnecessarily and ending with the familiar ping of gravel spraying the front of the house, was her answer to that question.

Brendon forced himself up off the couch, heading for the bathroom to wash his face.

His mother had come over to make sure he wasn’t at death’s door. After he had finally assured her that he was just a little light-headed, she had talked to Cheyenne while babying him as much as she could. Brendon had wanted to fight her off, but he knew better. His mother was the one woman Brendon made a point not to piss off.

Not that he usually made a point of pissing off any woman. Just Cheyenne, it seemed.

When he emerged from the bathroom a short while later, he found Cheyenne still sitting on the couch, looking just as gorgeous as always. With her long, dark hair flowing down her back, the smooth creamy softness of her face, the sexy way she rocked a pair of jeans . . . Brendon knew he couldn’t be left alone with her without running the risk of doing something incredibly stupid.

Which meant he needed to do something else.

“I need to go talk to Jessie,” he blurted, unsure just what prompted the idea, but he was going to run with it.